Crestview dentist to unveil exhibit dedicated to Wild West gunslinger

This illustration of Doc Holliday and Virgil, Wyatt and Morgan Earp minutes before the "Gunfight at the OK Corral” will hang in an exhibit at Dr. Richard Thomas' office in Crestview.

DR. RICHARD THOMAS | Special to the Crestview News Bulletin

By BRIAN HUGHES / Crestview Bulletin

Published: Sunday, November 3, 2013 at 01:54 PM.

CRESTVIEW— Although John Henry “Doc” Holliday is renowned as a Wild West gambler and gunslinger, he also was a dentist.

Fittingly, Crestview dentist Dr. Richard Thomas will host an open house Friday to show off Doc Holliday’s dental chair. Friday is the 126th anniversary of Holliday’s death.

The ornate mid-19th-century chair with its pedal-operated drill is the pride of Thomas’ extensive collection of Wild West antiques.

Thomas didn’t say how much he paid for the chair, but said he got caught up in the excitement of an online auction where he bought it.

“I’ve never been in an auction before,” he said. “I should’ve cut my finger off. For some reason I kept bidding it up and bidding it up and the next thing it said (was) ‘You got it.’ ”

Thomas also acquired Holliday’s appointment “book,” a fan of ivory cards on which weekly patient appointments — some still barely legible — were written in pencil and later erased.

The exhibit also features late 19th-century playing cards, dice, clay poker chips, a casino card shoe and a leather-topped card table, which spotlight Holliday’s gambler personality.

Holliday’s legend grew after he stood with Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp during the famous “Gunfight at the OK Corral” on Oct. 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

An enlarged illustration of them walking down Tombstone’s main street shortly before the shootout appears in an exhibit room at Thomas’ office on Alabama Street. So does a bottle of Holliday’s favorite beverage, Old Overholt whiskey, and a vintage crystal shot glass.

The room features velvet-flocked wallpaper, a pressed tin ceiling and period furnishings that reflect Holliday’s elegance, Thomas said.

“Doc would be impressed with his new office,” Thomas said. “I’m thinking, ‘If this stuff could talk …”

WANT TO GO? Dr. Richard Thomas will unveil Doc Holliday’s dentist’s chair and other artifacts from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at 102 Alabama St. Suite A in Crestview

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CRESTVIEW— Although John Henry “Doc” Holliday is renowned as a Wild West gambler and gunslinger, he also was a dentist.

Fittingly, Crestview dentist Dr. Richard Thomas will host an open house Friday to show off Doc Holliday’s dental chair. Friday is the 126th anniversary of Holliday’s death.

The ornate mid-19th-century chair with its pedal-operated drill is the pride of Thomas’ extensive collection of Wild West antiques.

Thomas didn’t say how much he paid for the chair, but said he got caught up in the excitement of an online auction where he bought it.

“I’ve never been in an auction before,” he said. “I should’ve cut my finger off. For some reason I kept bidding it up and bidding it up and the next thing it said (was) ‘You got it.’ ”

Thomas also acquired Holliday’s appointment “book,” a fan of ivory cards on which weekly patient appointments — some still barely legible — were written in pencil and later erased.

The exhibit also features late 19th-century playing cards, dice, clay poker chips, a casino card shoe and a leather-topped card table, which spotlight Holliday’s gambler personality.

Holliday’s legend grew after he stood with Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp during the famous “Gunfight at the OK Corral” on Oct. 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

An enlarged illustration of them walking down Tombstone’s main street shortly before the shootout appears in an exhibit room at Thomas’ office on Alabama Street. So does a bottle of Holliday’s favorite beverage, Old Overholt whiskey, and a vintage crystal shot glass.

The room features velvet-flocked wallpaper, a pressed tin ceiling and period furnishings that reflect Holliday’s elegance, Thomas said.

“Doc would be impressed with his new office,” Thomas said. “I’m thinking, ‘If this stuff could talk …”

WANT TO GO? Dr. Richard Thomas will unveil Doc Holliday’s dentist’s chair and other artifacts from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at 102 Alabama St. Suite A in Crestview